Widower Charged With Collecting Death Benefits After Remarriage

The arrest of the widower of a Philadelphia police officer who died more than 30 years ago has given new meaning to the term “remarriage penalty.” The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office this week charged John Higgins, 67, with insurance fraud after the man allegedly reported that he had never remarried. After Higgins' wife, Officer Sharon Higgins, died from a heart attack while on duty in 1987, the widower collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in workers' compensation death benefits over the next three decades, according to a local news report. Higgins remar...